


That Thing With Feathers

by shepherdofmantle (account_now_inactive)



Series: All the King's Men [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: F/F, Found Family, Hydra (Marvel), M/M, Mom Friend Emma Frost, Neurodivergent Wanda Maximoff, Pre-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers is a little shit and Hydra hates him for it, Team as Family, The Avengers are actually friends in this, The government gets a vibe check and it is rancid, Wanda-centric, You're Welcome, aka Magneto's fucking pissed, dadneto, mentions of human experimentation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:01:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21524122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/account_now_inactive/pseuds/shepherdofmantle
Summary: After the X-Men rescue Wanda and Pietro Maximoff from a SHIELD prison, the two must adjust to life at the Xavier Institute, while recovering from their ordeals at the hands of the SHIELD scientists. At the Institute, they find acceptance and safety, but when their new home is threatened by those who refuse to let the Maximoffs escape, Wanda must find it within herself to accept her powers, or risk losing her newfound family.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, Jean Grey/Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff & Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff/Kurt Wagner
Series: All the King's Men [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1551328
Comments: 28
Kudos: 107





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy this caffeine fueled jaunt into my hyperfixations. Some quick notes: Charles and Erik are their older versions, but I was more familiar with the revised timeline versions of the other mutants sooo, here goes. Also I never found a canon age for Wanda and Pietro, so, my canon now.

Maria Hill looked as frustrated as Steve Rogers had ever seen her. Tony and Bruce were nowhere to be seen, so it was just him, Nat, Thor, and Clint in the meeting. Bruce didn’t like meetings, and it wasn’t worth trying to get Tony out of his lab until he passed out at his desk and they dragged him off to sleep. Maria opened a folder and slid it across the table to them.

“Last night, four unknown assailants broke into a former SHIELD prison and rescued two highly dangerous prisoners,” she said. “All four assailants were enhanced, as well as the two they rescued. There was an unknown number of hostiles who never engaged.”

“Any progress on identifying the assailants?” Steve asked as Clint passed him the folder.

“No. They were wearing masks, and no individuals with their abilities were ever registered on the index.” He glanced over static-filled security photos, as if something were interfering with the state of the art SHIELD security specifically designed to resist interference. The best he could see were two women, one man, and, well, he wasn’t sure. They were a dark blue, with a tail poking out of the dark uniforms all four of them wore, built tall and lithe. He flipped through the photos and came to the pictures of the prisoners.

“These are kids,” he said.

“Highly dangerous,” Maria corrected. He frowned, but Nat’s elbow in his side kept his mouth shut. “I don’t have the information on why they were in there. Just that we need to find them and bring them back into custody. Fast.”

Steve glanced back down at the mugshots of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, barely even eighteen, and forced himself to nod along with Nat and Clint.

“What can they do?” Clint asked. “Please don’t tell me they spontaneously combust. That was terrible.”

“You only say that because you lost your eyebrows for three months,” Nat replied.

“He’s fast,” Maria said. “She’s telekinetic, has neuroelectric interfacing, and . . . well, she’s weird.”

“Great,” Clint muttered.

Wanda thought it had been a dream, that a fiery angel shattered the door to her cell and pulled the straightjacket off her arms, that the absence of the shock collar around her neck was just a memory of before SHIELD grabbed her and Pietro. The angel gathered her into her arms, carrying her through halls of the prison Wanda had never seen before.

“It’s okay,” she said, or maybe that voice was inside her head. Wanda couldn’t tell anymore. “I’m Jean. We’re here to help.”

“I can carry her,” Pietro’s voice said.

“They were barely giving you enough to eat,” a second woman said. “Jean, keep an eye on them, stay behind me. When we get outside, Kurt will take them first, then the rest of us. Ororo’s waiting to give us cover.”

“Pietro?” Wanda asked.

“I’m here.” His grinning face appeared in the fuzzy circle of her vision, looking over the angel’s shoulder. She tried to reach for him, but her aching arms refused to cooperate. “What’s wrong with her?”

“They had her in a straightjacket too tight,” Jean said. “It may take a bit for her to regain full mobility of her arms.”

Wanda let her head fall against Jean’s shoulder, hearing guards shouting, guns firing, and pullets pinging into the walls around them. The guards shouted in confusion, and then pain, and a cool wind brushed her face. The rest passed in a disjointed blur; she was passed to someone else’s arms, and then falling, then someone was putting her into a seat and buckling a harness over her chest. Pietro’s hand slipped into hers, and an engine shuddered underneath them. The voices around her gradually faded away, and she slipped into dreamless sleep.

When she woke up, she was on a bed, with a blanket pulled up to her chest. She could hear a machine beeping in time with her heart. She could feel Pietro’s presence nearby, although he was asleep, and someone else was shuffling around nearby. She peered through her eyelashes, taking in the gray walls and metal floors around her. Her heart dropped as she realized that they must be testing her again. Sometimes they would tell her to throw things with her mind, or show someone something scary, but the worst was always when they would test if she and Pietro still had their bond, with shocks or sharp pokers or worse.

She ripped the needle out of her arm, throwing all the sensors off her chest and head with a flick of her wrist. The man spun around, his glasses nearly flying off the end of his nose. She didn’t recognize him, but most of the SHIELD scientists had melted together after a time, into cold eyes and sterile white coats. She wouldn’t let them hurt Pietro if they were stupid enough to leave her unrestrained. Red energy crackled from her hands as she raised them towards the man, until Pietro rushed between her and the man.

“It’s okay! We’re safe now,” he said. He raised his feet to show her his ankles, free of any restraints. She raised a hand to her neck, brushing her fingers over the burn scars where the collar used to be.

“It was real,” she said, incredulous. “It was real!”

Pietro grinned, even as she felt his heart break into a thousand tiny pieces. Then, his arms were around her, lifting her off the bed and into the air as he spun her around, his words coming out in a rush. “We’re free, they’re just like us, we’re not the only ones!”

She glanced over Pietro’s shoulder at the man, shuffling awkwardly as he tried to avoid staring at them. She pulled away and said, “I’m sorry for trying to attack you.”

“It’s okay, Wanda,” he said. “I don’t blame you. I’m Hank, I need to take some of your vital signs, is that okay?”

She nodded, sitting back down on the bed as he ran through the familiar procedure, although he was much kinder than the other doctors had ever been. While he worked, she marveled at the softness of the bed and sheets, and the cleanliness of Pietro’s new clothes.

“You can pick out some new ones once we’re through here,” Hank said. “After that, you’ll meet the professor and find a room, and get a tour, of course.”

Wanda felt herself start to smile, but SHIELD hung in the back of her mind. They wouldn’t let their “miracles” go that easily, and she could never forget the bomb with Stark printed onto the side, seared into her memories.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda meets some new people, and Erik has an "Oh, shit" moment

The professor Hank had referenced was an older, bald man in a wheelchair who smiled kindly at the twins from the door to their room as Pietro zipped around, alternating between reorganizing his clothes and jumping on his bed. Wanda painstakingly folded every piece of clothing, organizing them by color- black or red.

“I wanna meet the others,” Pietro said from where he was currently looking out the window across the lawn. There were people outside, but Pietro wasn’t so much looking at them as the sprawling yard. Wanda smiled as his excitement washed over her, but the desire to go outside and _run_ wasn’t entirely his alone.

“There will be plenty of time for that,” Professor Xavier said.

“C’mon Wanda, let’s go,” Pietro said, leaning over her bed to watch as she folded the last of her shirts and set it inside the drawer. He zipped over to the professor, shifting from foot to foot as she stood and dusted off her skirt and readjusted the scarf to make sure it still covered her scars. She followed them as the professor led them along the hall of the residential wing, taking in the art that hung on the walls and the carpet under her feet. 

“Do you two know what you are?” Xavier asked.

“Miracles,” Wanda said, at the same time Pietro said, “Twins.”

“Yes, Pietro, and you are correct, Wanda, but not for the reason they told you.”

“Did you read my mind?” she asked suspiciously.

“Not on purpose. You are very strong, but in time, you will learn how to shield yourself.” He paused for a second, as if considering his words. “You are mutants. Your abilities do not come from what they did to you, but from your genetic makeup. Specifically, a gene we call the x-gene.”

The bomb, sitting a foot from their faces, and Wanda, cowering in Pietro’s arms, willing it not to blow up.

“And you’re all mutants here?” she asked, pushing the memory away.

“Yes,” Xavier said. He stopped in front of a corridor and waved a hand towards it. “This is the classroom wing. Once you settle in, we’ll enroll you in some classes. You have the freedom to learn at your own pace, as well as to learn to control your abilities.”

“Hey!” Jean waved as she descended the staircase, balancing a binder and stack of books with one hand. “I’m glad to see you two are doing okay. How are your arms doing?”

“They’re okay,” Wanda said.

“Hey, Wanda, she’s telekinetic too,” Pietro said. “She helped rescue us, she was blocking all the bullets and throwing guards around, it was awesome!”

_He talks fast, too,_ Jean remarked.

Wanda hid a grin.

“Don’t you have class?” Xavier asked.

“I’m already late.” She grinned and waved as she moved past them, leaving the air warmer. Pietro raised an eyebrow at Wanda, but Xavier was already moving away, so she hurried to catch up, vowing to ask Pietro about that look later.

Wanda’s head spun with names and casual displays of power by the time their tour was over. Pietro had passed out, sprawled across his bed, before she had gotten a chance to ask him what his look had meant, and he was carefully guarding that from her. She glanced around the room, but Xavier had said she could go wherever she wanted, so she readjusted her scarf and slipped out into the hall.

A few others were still up, but she didn’t recognize most of them, and they hardly spared her a glance as she passed. Just in case, she kept her head down, until she reached the doors to the balcony overlooking the yard. She stepped outside, climbing up onto the railing and boosting herself onto the roof from there.

Much to her surprise, a young woman was already there, leaning back on her palms to watch the sky slowly darken. When Wanda clambered onto the roof, she straightened, as if expecting to get in trouble. When she saw Wanda’s equally guilty look, she relaxed and grinned, leaning back onto her palms again.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell,” she said. “The view’s too great to ruin.”

Wanda nodded, finding a place on the roof that was (probably) an appropriate distance and settling down to watch the stars appear. They were silent for a while, until the sun had slipped all the way below the horizon and the last traces of light had faded. The wind ruffled Wanda’s hair, still slightly tangled but much cleaner after she got a chance to shower, and she pulled the leather jacket she had dug out of the closet closer.

“Did you miss it?” the woman asked. “The wind?”

Wanda realized she had been smiling, and she quickly blinked away the warmth welling in her eyes. She nodded, gesturing across the yard, then to the sky. “All of it.”

“I’m Lorna,” she said.

“Wanda.”

“Yeah.” Lorna looked out over the yard, watching a lone figure trudge across the grass into the trees. “I heard SHIELD had you.”

Wanda nodded, pulling her knees to her chest. Thankfully, Lorna seemed to read her mood and changed topics.

“I can show you the ropes,” she offered. “There’s a lot of mutants here, and a lot of different personalities. It can be overwhelming, but it helps to have someone to show you the way.”

“That would be nice.”

_Why are you being so nice to me,_ sat on the tip of Wanda’s tongue, but she couldn’t take another pitying look, that sinking feeling that Whitehall and the SHIELD scientists still had power over her, even now.

“Do you have any classes yet?” Lorna asked.

“We sign up tomorrow,” she answered.

“Get Emma’s classes. Logan’s an asshole and Xavier doesn’t take late work.”

They sat in silence after that, until the air chilled too much for them to stay outside.

Wanda’s fingers curled around the tray in her hands as she stared out across the cafeteria, as if the cold metal could ground her against the wave of clinking silverware and voices. She was about to turn around and walk back out, until she caught sight of Jean’s hair, a flash of fire, and then the woman was waving her and Pietro over.

“Hey,” she said with a smile. “You’re looking good.”

Wanda dropped her eyes to the table and sat down, mumbling a thank you. Thankfully, her non-response was soon overshadowed as another one of the table’s occupants, a young, dark-haired man with bright red glasses across his face, caught sight of Pietro’s plate and said, “What the fuck?”

“I’m hungry,” Pietro said. Judging by the blank looks, that in no way explained his towering heap of food- pancakes, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, and eight pieces of toast, by Wanda’s count.

“He needs more food,” she explained. “His metabolism is really fast.”

_And they never gave him enough._

“Ah,” the man said.

“Ignore Scott.” Jean sent him a look and an elbow to the side. “You wouldn’t be the only one that needs to eat a lot.”

“Have you seen how much Logan eats? Holy shit,” a young woman on Jean’s other side said.

“I’ve stopped trying to figure him out,” Scott replied. “It’s easier that way.”

A man appeared in a puff of blue smoke, sitting next to Pietro with a tray of food. He bowed his head in a quick prayer and started shoveling food into his mouth. None of the others seemed to mind him, so Wanda tried not to stare too much. He was obviously not human, with blue skin and a pointed tail that curled behind him, and three fingers instead of five.

“You’ll get used to it, it takes everyone a few days to get used to him teleporting all over the place,” Scott said around a mouthful of toast.

“That’s gross,” the young woman said.

“I’m multitasking,” Scott retorted.

Wanda hid a smile as she took a bite of pancake, listening to them banter back and forth. With Pietro’s arm around her shoulder as he told her how the story of how they had rescued them- Jean flinging guards into the wall, Kurt confounding them by teleporting too fast for them to keep up, Ororo blinding them with fog and throwing their pursuit off their trail with gusts of wind, Scott grounding their helicopters with blasts (lasers from his eyes, Wanda!)- that ever present knot in her stomach started to loosen.

Wanda fucking hated school.

She’d been good at it, once upon a time, but it took a backseat to survival, and then SHIELD hadn’t really had algebra at the top of their priorities when it came to her and Pietro. Emma was patient, but Wanda still wanted to fling her desk into the wall. Finally, Emma sighed and leaned back in her seat, as if sensing her frustration.

“That’s good enough for today. I’ll see you tomorrow. Go get some fresh air.” Wanda was out of her seat and through the door before Emma had a chance to change her mind.

She stepped outside, scanning the yard for a quiet spot to sit. Pietro was under a tree with Kurt, books spread around them, probably trying to study. A group of mutants was playing basketball- or rather, arguing about who was allowed to use their powers in the game.

“He froze me last time!” a girl said, pointing at another boy.

“You can phase through it!” he protested.

She flinched away from the shouting and walked in the opposite direction, nearly running right into someone right behind her. She leaped back, tilting her face up to look the man in the eye. He was about the professor’s age, with a shock of white hair and wrinkles that spoke more to frowning than smiling. She didn’t feel malice from him though, not like Whitehall had.

“Wanda!” Lorna bounded past him, throwing an arm over her shoulder. “Sorry, that’s my dad.”

“I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Erik.” He held out a hand towards her, so she reached out and shook it.

“Magneto,” Lorna whispered conspiratorially. “He’s where I get my drama genes.”

“Please,” he scoffed.

“Magneto?” Wanda asked.

“Yep. We both control metal.” Lorna tapped the metal bracelet on her wrist.

“Oh.” Wanda frowned. “My mom knew a guy who could do that.”

Erik’s eyes widened, but Wanda didn’t pay it much mind, spinning to face Lorna, clasping her hands in front of her chest.

“Right! I promised Wanda a tour. As much as I would _love_ to listen to you and Xavier flirt, I promised.” Lorna grabbed Wanda’s arm and dragged her away. As soon as they were out of earshot, she said, “Seriously. They flirt and then claim they do no such thing. Old friend this, let’s play a game of chess that. It would be cute it he wasn’t my dad and also old.”

Wanda laughed, following Lorna as she led her across the yard.

She didn’t see Erik watching them, a frown on his face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this at ass o clock this morning, I'm sorry. Also I took Lorna from the Gifted, but she gets to be happy bc it's my canon now.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long, I've been dealing with writer's block and some personal stuff. Anyways, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, Happy Holidays to everyone else!

The next week passed fairly uneventfully. Wanda tried to focus on schoolwork and hated every minute of it. Emma, for her part, seemed to understand and didn’t push Wanda too much. She hadn’t joined the main classroom, but Emma promised she didn’t have to until she was ready. Breakfast with Jean and her friends became part of her daily routine, and Lorna had showed her dozens of quiet spots to get away from the bustle of the grounds. 

She was sitting in one of these spots, on a bench under a large oak, when Jean and Lorna approached her. She looked up from the sketchbook Emma had given her as they stopped in front of her. 

“Wanda,” Lorna said. “We need to talk.” 

“Stop it,” Jean said, elbowing her sharply. “That’s the worst way to open a talk.” 

“You’re scared,” she said, ignoring Jean. “And that is no way for a mutant to live.”

“Scared?” Wanda asked. 

Jean sighed, sitting next to her on the bench. Lorna sat in front of her, cross-legged on the ground. Wanda fiddled with the end of her scarf, but Jean seemed to be searching for the words. Finally, she shifted in her seat so she was looking Wanda in the face. 

“When I first came here, the professor told me I had a gift,” she said. “He said that it’s not inherently good, or bad. It’s what you choose to do with it that matters.” 

“And you think I’m scared of my . . .” Wanda waved a hand in the air. 

“You never have to go on missions or anything,” Lorna said. “But the people here aren’t going to hurt you or shun you or anything like that because of your gift.” 

Wanda didn’t answer, because explaining why she was scared of it would mean explaining what those scientists had made her do, and she couldn’t imagine Lorna or Jean wanting to stay friends when they knew what she had done. Instead, she shoved those memories into the back of her mind and nodded, hoping they would accept it and drop the subject. 

Jean looked about ready to say something when Pietro appeared in front of them. 

“Hey, can I borrow Wanda?” he asked. 

She stood, brushing imaginary dirt off her skirt, and hugged her sketchbook close to her chest as she fell into step beside Pietro. They were quiet, her shoulder brushing his arm, as they followed a path worn into the grass from countless other feet before them. He kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, as if he wanted to say something, but Wanda didn’t want to continue the conversation he had just rescued her from. 

“You and Kurt,” she said. “You seem . . . close.” 

“You’re deflecting,” he accused, but she could see the faint blush rising on his cheeks. 

“So are you.” 

“He’s really nice. And funny.” Now Pietro really was blushing. They fell into a comfortable silence as they walked. Pietro had started to fill out from the regular meals, and the dark circles had faded from underneath his eyes. She hadn’t seen him this free in years, and she couldn’t bear to see him chained up again, wasting away, pacing from side to side in a cell. She reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. 

Steve resisted the urge to bang his head against Tony’s desk as the aforementioned billionaire attempted to kick several SHIELD agents out of his lab. He and the leader, Garrett, had been arguing about his facial recognition program for at least thirty minutes, and Nat hadn’t answered Steve’s “save me pls” text. 

“The program can’t recognize their faces if they don’t show them to be recognized!” Tony snapped. 

“Hey, I’m just the messenger,” Garrett said, holding his hands up in surrender. By all accounts, he was nice, but something about him set Steve on edge. Even if he couldn’t put his finger on it, he trusted his gut enough to know something about him was off. 

“Then let me do my job!” Steve watched the SHIELD agents file out of the lab and wordlessly slid Tony’s coffee across the desk. He chugged several gulps and slammed it back down, glaring at the door they had just disappeared through. “I don’t get it. I can’t find any criminal records for these kids, here or in Sokovia or anywhere. Even Jarvis can’t get into their SHIELD files- hell, he couldn’t even find them.” 

“I don’t know.” Steve had read and re-read the twins’ files looking for clues- where to find them, why they were in prison, anything. The files had been strangely sparse and full of redacted info. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and somewhere farther in the lab, Tony’s ringtone blared. He glanced at the message, from Nat, “Avengers level threat in the kitchen. ASAP :/” and sighed. 

“If they broke my toaster again,” Tony threatened. 

“Let’s not keep her waiting,” Steve said. An irritated Nat was a terrifying Nat, and Steve really didn’t want to deal with that after Garrett- even if Steve hadn’t technically been the one dealing with him. 

And maybe he wasn’t the only one with reservations about this whole situation, if Tony’s attempt to hack SHIELD’s database was any indication. 

Wanda frowned in concentration, trying to ignore Pietro’s stare as she floated the basketball across the court towards the goal. She could feel his confusion, but he didn’t break her concentration as she dropped it through the net. She ignored him as she pulled the ball back across the court to her and set it back in its spot on the rack.   
“So,” he said as she turned back to him. “I’m guessing this has nothing to do with your conversation with Jean and Lorna?” 

“I’m playing basketball,” she replied. 

“Uh huh.” He looped an arm through hers and pulled her towards the house. “It’s dinner time. We’re already late. How long have you been out here anyway?” 

“I don’t know. A little bit?” Wanda had spent at least two hours proving to herself she didn’t have to be destructive. It had been easy, but she couldn’t force herself to move on to anything harder. 

They slipped through the front doors into the main hall, nearly running right into Emma and a blue woman Wanda didn’t recognize, arguing in hissed whispers. As soon as Wanda and Pietro stepped through the doors, they straightened and smiled at the twins, as if they hadn’t just been arguing. 

Pietro ducked past them, dragging Wanda after him. She glanced over her shoulder as he pulled her into the dining hall, but they hadn’t picked their conversation back up. Emma watched the woman with tight lips, and the woman watched until the door shut between them, cutting off Wanda’s line of sight.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lorna is best sister (even if they don't know they're sisters yet)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. I have no excuse. Long story short, a couple things happened that sapped my motivation for this story, but I'm trying to pick this up again! Idk how regular updates will be but I will do my best! Stay safe everyone, and happy easter to anyone who celebrates it!

Wanda picked at her food during dinner, but a heavy feeling of dread hung over her shoulders and turned the food to flavorless mush. People argued, but Wanda’s brain screamed at her that something was wrong, that any second the building would start shaking and the roof would come tumbling down over their heads. 

Jean and Pietro kept shooting her concerned glances, but she just smiled anytime she caught them staring, and hoped that would be enough to deter any questions. It was just a panic attack, but no matter how much she drilled into her brain, all it took was one thing, whether it be someone dropping a book or two adults arguing in the hall, and her brain would leap off that cliff into a rabbit hole of what-ifs. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a hand fell onto her shoulder, but it was just Lorna. 

“Hey, Wanda, I have something to show you,” she said. 

“Yeah, sure,” Wanda said, shoving her plate towards Pietro. 

He raised an eyebrow, but she just shrugged, pushing herself to her feet and following Lorna. When they stepped into the main hall, it was empty, and Emma and the woman were nowhere to be found. Lorna plopped down on the steps, leaning back on her elbows, and patted the spot next to her. 

“What’s up?” she asked. “You look three seconds away from having a full-on meltdown.” 

“I’m sorry,” Wanda said automatically. 

“You have nothing to be sorry about. You don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to, but it’s a lot quieter out here than in there. Thought it might help.” She shrugged nonchalantly, but she watched Wanda with furrowed eyebrows. After a moment, she sat down next to her, tucking her knees against her chest. 

“Emma and this woman were arguing. I don’t know, I just don’t like, you know.” She waved her hand in the air vaguely, but Lorna nodded, as if that made perfect sense. 

“What did she look like?” 

“Uh. Blue?” 

“That was Raven. Most of the time their spats are pretty small. I’m pretty sure they should just kiss already, save us all the trouble.” Lorna hummed, tilting her head as she looked over towards the door. “She must have just gotten back. Raven can shapeshift, so she keeps an eye out, for any mutants or someone who would try and hurt us.” 

“Are there a lot of them?” Wanda asked. “People trying to hurt us, I mean.” 

“Eh, we’ve stayed pretty hidden. There’s a few small groups but we’re safe here.” Lorna reached out, squeezing Wanda’s forearm gently. “It’ll be okay.” 

Wanda nodded. Nothing bad had happened- yet- but maybe, just maybe, it could stay that way. She and Pietro could be happy here, safe. It was easy to forget there was a world outside the gates, a world that had hurt her and her brother, taken their family and their home from them. 

“Ya know,” Lorna said, pulling her from her thoughts. “I heard Jean likes to stargaze.” 

“Huh?”

Lorna just smirked knowingly. 

“She’s also pretty good with all that school stuff, if you ever need any help,” she added. 

“Thank you?” Wanda blinked, trying to fit the two statements together, but in the end, she just shrugging and rested her chin on her knees. 

Lorna was right, that it was much quieter out here. 

The toaster was not broken, thankfully. 

Nat sat on the counter, swinging her legs back and forth, ignoring Tony’s grumbling about how “there are perfectly good chairs right there.” Nobody else was in the kitchen, and nothing was smoking, on fire, or otherwise broken, so Steve wasn’t entirely sure what the emergency actually was. 

“Guess what I found,” she said, and tossed a folder at Steve like a frisbee without waiting for an answer. 

Steve opened the folder, glancing through the grainy pictures of a jet- the jet that had aided in the rescue of the Maximoffs, it looked like. Natasha had scribbled notes on various pieces of paper- receipts, shopping lists, an old sudoku puzzle- in her near unintelligible handwriting. He passed it to Tony and waited for her to explain. 

“Most people don’t have a jet like that just laying around in their yards, right?” she said. “Well, I tracked down possible models, cross-referenced with how fast it left SHIELD airspace, how it cloaked itself, and long story short, I hunted down pilot licenses for everyone who would know how to fly something like that and narrowed down our suspect list.” 

“I just got my ass chewed out by SHIELD and you were sitting on this the whole goddamn time?” Tony demanded. 

“Because we’re not telling them,” she said simply. 

“What?” both Tony and Steve asked. 

“Not yet,” she amended. “I already talked with Clint. Something funky is going on here. Maria can’t talk about it, but even she’s got a bad feeling about this.” 

“How would you even know if she can’t talk about it?” Tony asked. 

“Not all communication is verbal.” She shot him a look that was dangerously close to irritated-Nat, and he got the hint to shut up. “Now. A couple of these people are in the States, so I think we should start there. I recommend we track down Hank McCoy. He has a pilot’s license, he’s a doctor, but it’s expired- he also doesn’t make appearances in public much, and he records show he lives with one Charles Xavier, who runs a boarding school for, and I quote, gifted youngsters.” 

“A strange way of saying escaped fugitives,” Tony said. 

“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Steve warned him. “But, it’s worth checking out.”

“We’re not going in guns blazing,” Nat said. “If there really is a school full of unregistered gifted individuals, we’ll be outmatched and outgunned if we go in without any idea of what we’re up against.”

“What’s our excuse?” Steve asked. 

Nat grinned. 

“Leave that to me.” 

Steve did not like that one bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyways, Jean has a crush on Wanda but she is so oblivious to it- which is why it's not mentioned much- but when wanda starts picking up on it?? so much fluff lol, it's what we need right about now

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, idk if i'll have a regular update schedule, but I'll do my best! I'm kinda projecting onto Wanda a smidge oops. If you notice any errors pls lemme know, and comments and kudos are much appreciated


End file.
